; --- 3 THE COUNTY OF PERTH HERALD, STRATFORD, WEDNESDAY, APRIL. 20, 1864. 5 = hil ie allt od Union of the Maritime Pro- vinces. A practical, movement. has»ate-length been, made forjan union of.the maritime Provinces of British America. At present they form, three distinct Provinces: Nova Scotia, New Bruns- wick and Prince Edward Island ; Newfoundland not being considered a part of British America. It is not so classed inthe Colonial office, we be- lieve. The Government of Nova Scotia has taken the initiative by introducing in the Legislature re- solution to appoint five delegates to confer with an equal number from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to agree upon a basis of union. This resolution was carried without a division, If the other Provinces also appoint delegates, and a: basis of union be agreed upon, the ratification of the Imperial and Provincial Legislatures would be required. It does not ap- pear that the consent of the Imperial, Govern- ment to, the scheme' has' been obtained; and the omission of this may possibly cause some objec- tion, which may delay its consummation. The proposal is in fact neither more nor_less than for a reunion of Provinces which physical necessities rather than 'political causes first se- parated. In their infancy, same of these colonies were separate. The treaty of Utrecht, in 1731, which gave the first blow to the colonial system of Colbert, deprived France of Acadie or Nova Scotia; while she retained Isle Royale or Cape Breton.. What were the boundaries of Acadie was a question much contested. According to the French, Acadie was confined to the Presque' Isle now known as Noya Scotia; according to the English it included all New Brunswick and part of the State of Maine. Till within two years of the conquest of Canada, which cut the knot of the difficulty, the French continued masters of Cape Breton, At the conquest, this island, as well as that of Prince Edward, was united to Nova Scotia. The latter was made a separate Province in 1780, in which position it has ever since remained. Fourteen years later; in- 1784, Nova Scotia, was divided into three colonies ; of which New Brunswick was one and Cape Breton another. The latter was reunited to Nova Scotia in 1820; but New Brunswick has ever since remained separate. These three various Provinces are all inhabit- ed by a population sufficiently homogeneous to prevent any difficulty on the score ofrace. The population of the whole is about one-third that of Canada; a fact of considerable importance in viéw of the ultimate extension of the union to all the Provinces. At present, there are obstacles in the way of an union with Canada; physical obstacles of precisely the same nature as terded to the separation of New Brunswick at the time it took place. The facility of intercourse which railroads have given has abolished the cause of the original separation; and the re-union with its advantages can now be enjoyed, without any serious drawbacks being now encountered. This seems to be the view of the matter taken by the Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia. For want of this facility of communication with Canada, the union cannot, at present, be extend- ed to this Province. But of the promoters of the lesser union many look upon it as only the first step to the greater. Before the latter can be brought about, the Intercolonial Railway must be built. 'The Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia mentioned the deficit in the Canadian re- venue as a furthér reason against an extended union. We must remove this objection; and then Canada will become eligible for the part- nership. The three Lower Provinces once united, the remainder of the work would be easy. It would be so much easier for Canada to deal with one Province than three. For federal purposes, the whole of the Provinces would make three; one to consist of the maritime Provinces, another of Lower and the third of Upper Canada. By giv- ing and taking a little, it would be easy so to arrange the divisions as to give to each about an equal population. There would remain the ques- tion of what vught to be donewith Newfound- land. With a view to that*future which is to give birth to a distinct British American nation- ality, it, would be desirable to include Newfound- land, on account of its commanding, to a certain extent, the entrance to the St. Lawrence. At present, for reasons not stated, but which are obvious enough, it is képt out of the account. This is of no importance. When the time for ar- ranging the final union of.C azorta, as the united Maritime Provinces 'would probably be called, with Canada comes, it will be seofi enough to decide the other question of what should be done with Newfoundland. The Maritime Provinces. THE QUESTION OF UNION, On the 25th ult., in the Nova Scotia Legis- lature, the Attorney General introduced resolu- tions relative toa union of the Lower Provinces. The Morning Chronicle alluding tothe matter says --- The Provincial Secretary in introducing the subject made a long speech, going very fully into the merits of the project. This was a ques- tion, hé said, that had been kept free from the influence of party politics, and had been ami- cably discussed in times past by the leading men of both political parties in this Province, and upon .t they were united in sentiment. He proposed a reunion of the Maritime Provinces, and regretted that they had ever been separated, and showed the reasons that led to the separ- ation did not now exist, but had been entirely removed by the establishment of steamboat and railway accommodation. He spoke of the diffi- culties that stood in the way of effecting a union with Canada at present. He was con- vinced, from information he had gathered, that a union of all the Provinces was impracticable just now. The rivalry between Upper and Lower Canada was one of the causes that oper- ated against an alliance with the Provinces, be- cause although both sections of the former de- pendency were united under one government, yet they were divided by internal dissensions, arising from religious feeling, difference in lan- guage, and other less important considerations. In particularizing the barriers 'that presented themselves in the way of a general federation, he instanced the financial condition of Canada, the annual deficit to the extent of 1,000,000 and the reluctance Nova Scotia and New Brunswick naturally felt in assuming a share of Canadian liabilities. He believed, however, that a union of all the Provinces would be the most beneficial arrangement in the end, but it was not possible to effect such now ; yet in course of time events might conspire to render such a union desirable and easy of accomplishment. » He was of opinion that let the internecine war now raging in Am- erica end, either in a restoration or a separation of the Union, the result will bring danger to the British North American Provinces,'and advised union as the most effectual safeguard. The hon. gentleman recapitulated the arguments that have from time to time been put forth in i . 7 favor of a unionof the Maritime Prévinces, and closed with moving a resolution providing for the appointment of delegates, not more than five, to confer with delegates from New Bruns- wick and P. E. Island, with the viewof effect- ing. terms upon which, to establish a union, the same to be submitted to the Legislatures of the Provinces. interested, and if agreed upon, be transmitted tothe home government for ap- proval, Mr, Archibald, in an appropriate speech, se- conded the resolution, and adduced strung argu- ments in support of the proposition. He was tollowed by Mr. Tobin, Hon. Mr: Shannon, the Attorney General and Mr. Churchill, who. all spoke in favor of the scheme. Hon. Mr. Shan- non and Mr. Tobin regretted that circumstances prevented Canada coming into the airangement. Mr. 'Kidman: expressed his disapproval of the project. Mr. Longley said he intended to op- pose the resolution, bat it being six o'clock the House adjourned to meet againat eight. Upon the House resuming, Mr. Miller spoke agaimst the resolution. _ He was opposed «to adoptiag sc important a scheme before the people had passed upon it. He was followed by Mr. Longley; who also opposed 'the measure. Then came Hon. Mr. McFarlane, Mr. Charles Campbell, and Dr. Hamilton in support of the proposition. After some observations from Mr. James Me- Donald, in favor of the motion, the question was taken, when the resolution passed without a division. Those who supported the resolution did so on. the ground that a union would be mutually beneticial to the different Provinces concerned, and was one step in the direction of ultimately establishing a great British American nation. Those who opp:s:d the measure did so on the ground that in the present state of feeling in the theee Provinces, commercially and sectionally, a union would not be attended with beneficial results. : Consumption of Coal. Ata late meeting of the Academie dés Sci- ences, Morales et Politiques, M. Dalloz gave the following interesting particulars of the consump- tion of coal : In. 1789, France consumed 500,000 tons of coal, 220,000 of which were imported ; in 1811, the quantity was 773,000 tons ; in 1830, it rose to 1,800,000 tons ; and in 1847, to 7,600,- 000 tongs 2,500,000 of which were imported. During the four following years there was a considerable _ diminution, the extraction. in France being reduced to 4,000,000 of tons, and the importation to 2,100,000 tons. In 1853, the consumption r se to 9,400,000 tons, and in 1859 to' 12,400,000 tons. In 1863, the third year after the convention of 1860, the quantity consimed was 15,000,000 tons, 5,200,000. of which were imported, showing the immense increase of manufactures during a period of tranquility and order.. At the commencement of the present century, England produced 13,000,000 tons ; in 1838 the quantity rose to 26,000,000 tons, and in 1862 to 84,500,000 tons. England alone produces much more than half the coal extracted throughout the world. The production of coal in.the United States. is valued at 15,000,000 of tons; that of Belgium at 9,000,000 ; the Zollverein produced upwards of 14,000,000 of tons in 1862.; so that, if Eng- land be omitted, France is one of the richest coal-producing countries in the world. The production of coal is intimately connected with that ofiron, in which article England again holds the first rank. In 1789, France only produced 69,000 tons of cast iron. This quantity, rose to 115,000 tons in 1812; in 1832, 347,772 tons of cast iron and 237,379 of wrought iron ; 1847, the figures were respectively 602,772 and 376,- 686.. In 1850 the. production, had. fallen. to 406,000 tons of cast iron and 246,000 of wrought iron. A new rise occurred immediately after the Republic ; in 1859, France produced 856,000 tons of cast iron and 520,000 of wrought iron ; and in 1863 it vaguely stated at the enormous figures of 1,180,000 tons of cast iron, and 705,- 500 tons of wrought iron. The production of England is nearly 4,000,000 of tons of cast iron, that of the 'Zollverein, 591,593 'tons; of Sweden, 143,000 ; of Austria, 270,000; of Belgium, 161,- 000. Disastrous Career of a Mad Dog. About noon on Sunday last, a large New- foundland dog in a rabid state came into the premises of Mr, Joseph Billings, Township of Hamilton, and:worried his dog, he then ran to Mr. Teiths', near Gore's Landing, and worried three of his dogs, and then passed on to Gore's Landing, his first act there being an atack upon a small dog belonging to Mr Gabetis; but an adopted child of Mr Gabetis; a girl of ten years, attempted to defend the little dog, when the rabid brute seized her by the arm, inflicting a seyere wound, and then by the hand, lacerating it with his teeth in a fearful manner. He then passed on, stopping to worry a dog of Mr. Isaac's and a deg belonging to Mr. Brafit, and next appeared on the premises of Thomas Ferguson, where he worried four sheep in a frightful man- ner, almost tearing the jaws off two of them; he ran on to Richard Perkins', and made an atack on Mr. Perkins' sheep, worrying five of them severely; he then took a course across the coun- try to Harwood, and in his mad career it is supposed he done much damage, but to what extent in that direction has not yet been fully ascertained. At Harwood he bit several dogs, and attacked a child of Mr. Whalen, inflicting severe wounds upon it, having actually worried and shook it in a fearful manner;.the people then rose and pursued him. He ran to Mr Blaikie's, where he attacked an old man, biting him se- verely, he also bit and worried several dogs in his course from Harwood, but those who followed succeeded in despatching himat Mr Blaikie's. Medical aid was immediately produced for the children and the man who were: bitten, and everything has been done to avert the fearful consequences attending the bite of a mad dog. All the dogs which he was known to have bitten were immediately killed. A fine horse belonging to Mr Finlay is also supposed to have been bitten by him. In fact, the damage which it is known he has committe is fearful, whilst, in all prob- ability, we have much more to learn of the rava- ges of this one rabid animal. The consequences which may be the result of his mad career we shudder toimagine. Those livingin the locali- ties through which he ran will require to exer- cise more than common caution in future with their dogs. It is not known where he came from but he is supposed to have crossed Rice Lake on the ice from Monaghan.--Coburg Sentinel EE Exeort or Catrrz.--The trade in cattle is now quite active in this section, on purchase for the United States. The " Pierrepont" took over a drove of fifty.on Friday last, and about an equal numer were shipped to day.-- Kingston American. The Nominations, MONTREAL EAST--RE-ELEOCTION OF MR. McGEE. The Hon. Mr. McGex then stepped forward and said:--If the two populous constitue:.cies of Montreal should return to-day by acclamation two members of the new Goveriment, the At- torney General East, and myself, [I hope I may be allowed to consider in an auspicious event for the Government, and the country. (Cheers.) The voice of Montreal can no more -be ig- nored in the counsels of the country, than the leading position of Montreal can be ignored in the commerce of the cguntry, This city, an eastern city with western interests--this city balanced between the two tongues--this city. of 120,000 inhabitants, can alone playin Canada the part of moderator between the extremes ; here alone the Union must be saved, the spirit of honorable compromise--the spirit of the British Constitution can alone be-made to prevail. As one of the representatives of such a city--for the fifth time chosen to that high honor--sur- rounded here to-day, bad as the weather is, with old friends--and new ones, too, lam happy to say [cheers], it has beenimpressed upon me, that, at the present critical moment in our po- litical history, I owe my opinions, as well as my position to my friends, [Cheers.| Well, gen- tlemen, I am prepared, so far as in my power, to meet your wishes, andvall that I cam say to you, may, I think, be classed under three divisions-- the personal question, the sectional question, and. what ought to be the main question--how the country may best be governed? As to the personal question, gentlemen, after the minis- terial explanations made in the Upper House b; Sir Etienne Tache, Mr. Campbell, and Mr. Blair, and inour House by Mr. Sandfield McDonald, Mr. Dorion, and Mr. McDougall--I think it is as clearas the sun, that, in the late crisis, one sort of our politicians thought only of their own per- sons and of their own places, while another sort thcught of themselves too, but manfuily refused to sacrifice their political principles and their party associates. [Cheers.] I suppose you have all read the explanations, and have all formtd your opinions upon them. Now in Par- liamentary explanations you have but the main facts gravely and austerely told ; butif you had been.on the spot, if you had seen the moves upon the board, you would have concluded, that so far as the ex-Ministerialists: were: concerned, there was no 'question, whatever, besides the personal question, between them and the party at present in power. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Sand- field Macdonald for example--l shall. say very little any more of Mr. Macdonald, unless he really is elected, as the Quebec Mercury an- nounced on the 25th of March,, " Parliamentary leader of the opposition,"--he states in his place in they House that Sir Etienne Tache " must have misunderstood him" when he [Sir Etienne] stated to Mr. Cartier that he, [Mr. Sandfield Mac- donald] if other» things were' satisfactorily ar- ranged, 'would not stand in the way" of Mr. Cartier's Premiership. It is not for me to illus- trate the claims of either of these gentlemen to an accurate understanding ; Addington and Pitt, both honorable men and geutlemen, quarrelled and were séparated on precisely sucha conflict of recollection and of testimony ; but I say that, taking into account-the facts that Sir Ntienne proceeded direct from Mr, Sandfield Macdonald to Mr. Cartier and carried his oyerture before it was an hour old, while Mr. Macdonald's version of the conversation is only given a week later when all the personal negotiations failed--tak- ing into account too, the position of both par- ties, most people will have little difficulty in be- lieving that Mr. Cartier's Premiership would not haye been an insuperable. obstacle, if Mr. Sand- field Macdonald could have remained with, him, as Attorney General West. [Cheers.]...Another personal issue arose, it appears. on the retention of Mr. Holtoua and Mr. Dorion in the Government. Originally brought into office by an Upper Ca- nadian intrigie--it was sought to impose them as colleagues, by all sorts of influence, on Col. Tache, to whose party they had always been opposed. (Cheers.) But just see what extra- ordinary conjunctions this arrangement would have brought about could it have succeeded. Mr Dorion declared in his place in the House that when his claims and those of Mr Holton were urged by their friends, he had heard of no proscription of individuals among the Lower Canada Opposition, Well, I can quite believe Mr Dorion did not hear of it, and yet I am assured a list of proscriptions was made by others of his ex-colleagues, If not--if Mr Dorion was fully informed, then we might at this moment--had we consented--for it takes two. parties,. you know, to make abargain--laughter--we might have had Mr Holton contesting Chateauguay, and Mr Dorion Hochelaga, as the colleagues of the Hon. Mr Cartier and myself. (Laughter.) I say the friends and Parliamentary supporters of those gentlemen thought that combination possible one fortnight ago ; of course they think it quite possible now, and I rather agree with them jin their' present opinion. [Laughter.] Then there were besides the personal explana- tions of Mr Ferguson Blair and Mr. McDougall. Now, Mr Blair is an able man, an educated man, a Scottish gentleman--liberal bdt not radical, at least so I should say from the little I saw of him ; but see the position his party placed him in! On the first. day of the crisis they put him forward as their organ of communication with the Governor--a position as leadership pro tem --but'on the 3rd day they elected Sandfield Mac- donald their 'Parliamentary leader," thus mak- ing him the supervisor and chief of Mr Blair, thus giving him, so far as they could, the com- mand of the crisis--thus 'making Mr Bla'r their agent, while retaining the member for Cornwall as Mr Blair's principal. [Hear, hear,} " He shall be King," said Jack Cade of the famous first Duke of York, " but I shall be first Vice- roy over him." [Laughter.] I say the position created for Mr Blair by his party friends was an untenable position--a dubious position--a position that cannot be defended. But what could he, or what could any man ex- pect of a party who saw their old associates sacrificed in an hour at the dictates of the mem- ber for Cornwall, or rather. from lust of office represented ir that gentleman's person without one word of public protest? What could be expected from a party that nominated their real chief, Mr. Brown, forthe Speakership, and dropped him without a struggle--that wonld not let him be General, or Captain, or even Corporal, one stripe above the ranks, and who can put that able but unfortunate. politician to 'no better use than beating the big drum of sectional alarm and agitation. (Laughter and cheers.) As to Mr. McDougall's personal explan- ations, if I am well informed, I believe we have not'yet heard the whole story told, in either House I beli¢ve one of Mr. McDougall's mod- est demands was the Upper Canadian leadership in our Howse. (Laughter.) Imagine the Upper Canada Constitutional minority, including such men-as the nembers for Kingston and Peel, sitting atthe back, and following the lead of William McDougall. (Laughter.) The vanity of quick witted men is notable enough, but it effervesces and soon subsides ; but the 'vanity of these cold blooded slow coaches, like a toad in a rock, will live for a century, without san or air. Mr McDougall had been Commissioner of Crown lands, and Commissioner he would right gladly have remained, even with Mr Cartier as Premier, if he could have had--modest man !-- five sixths of the seats for Upper Canada, and the leadership of the Lower House all to himself ! This proposal of Mr M¢Douzall's reminds me of John Brougham's travesty of Macready, saying to the manager of a Provincial theatre, who submissively asked him what were his terms, 'My terms, sir, are three-thirds of the house, and a benefit every night.' (Laughter) This was a caricature of Macready, but if that great artist was exacting in his high price, he was at least a star--a fixed and planetary star ; he was not merely one of the stock demanding the place and onsideration of a star. (Laughter.) You will perceive, gentlemen, from what I have said, that the personal question was very prominent indeed in the late crisis--more prominent per- haps, than ever it was before in the Ministerial formations of this or any other country. As to the Cabinet finally concluded upon I rejoice in the interests of my order and the country that sir Etienne Tache and Mr Campbell firmly 're- fused throughout to introduce and sanction the American ddctrine of availablity, as applied. to leading public' men, in the selection of those who were to form the new Government. You have also heard of the doctrine availability I dare say: It is'the levelling doctrine which wars with all established reputations--it is 'the Tar- peian rock hard by the capitol, of American public life. It means' just this, that when a public man becomes so eminent as to have a national reputation, including of course, envies and enmities: that lurk and crawl within the shadows of such a 'reputation, he is 'to he sacrificed by his political friends to the fear of his political enemies, in order that some nobody, against whome nothing can be:said, may be im- provised into a ruler, with a ready-made reputa- tion-- ** Of the watery moonbeam spun"-- orany other texture equally fictitious. (Cheers.) The American' party manager's maxim is pow- erful is "puff, and it will prevail." ~ But it is a dishonorable' doctrine; it is a: despicable doc- trine their doctrine of availability It is the doctrine that left Henry Clay in private life, to place Zachary Taylor in the presidency ; it is the doctrine that debarred Daniel Webster from the highest honors of the republic, to confer them on a respectable, but far inferior man--Mr, Filmore. Itis the' very reverse of the generous British practice, which takes the party leader with all his abilities: and liabilities--with his strength and his weakness--and which stigmatizes a plot against a party leader as second only in baseness to desertion on 'the field of battle. [Cheers] I have often said, gentlemen, as you know, that I do not believe that there is any American party. in this country; but there is a party with American ideas, of political honour, and party obligation, and they who proposed to Sir Kiienne Tache and Mr. Campbell to proscribe their old associates, preliminary to a new coalition, are evidently, whether they know it or not, of that party. (Cheers.) If they failed it was not their fault, and the country will laugh to scorn the afterthought indignation of these gentle- men against an administration of which they were quite willing to form part, could they have secured the patronage. My friend, the big drummer up at Toronto [laughter | takes this view of it, and he is busy daily beat- ing that tune upon the sheepskin, to the great discomfort of such baffled negotiators as Mr Sandfield Macdonald and Mr Macdougall. 1 agree so far with the big drummer, and I like his music--" mellowed by distance." Butas a drummer must have some regard for time, so, to drop the metaphor, even Mr Brown must have some respect for the decencies of public discus- sion, and the requirements of the public service. Mr Brown is making a most unwarranted and unpatriotic use of the late crisis, from the con- trol of which he was personally excluded by his own friends--to arouse sectional strifé and ha- tred between Upper and Lower Canada. [Hear, hear] In taking this new course, or rather in returning to his old abandoned course, Mr Brown is abusing his friends and his section--he is ag- gravating and inrceasing the sectional question which does exist in Canada, and which I say, as Thave always said, ought to be settled, and the sovner the better. [Cheers] I ask any man of common sense--any man who knows even a little of human nature--if the best way to recon- cile differences is to rake up old sores? Is crimination the language of conciliation? Are converts apt to be made by calumnies? Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs from thistles ? (Hear, hear) What is the effect of all Mr Brown's hostile demonstrations upon us in Lower. Ca- nada? They arouse in this section the sense, or, rather, the instinct of self-preservation the most powerful instinct of our nature--the in- stinct that justifies even homicide itself --and with which while dominant in a man or a people, it is impossible to reason successfully. (Hear, hear.) Now, [sincerely deplore, and the voice of this great city condemns, all merely sectional agitation, Upper Canadian or Lower Canadian, but we must get these intractable spirits of self- opinion on one side, and self-preseryation on the other quieted down before we can wisely and solidly settle our constitutional system. Mr Brown at Quebec felt the necessity for this course, he named five of the present Ministers whom he nuw denounces on his committee to in- quire into this subject--Messrs Cartier, Chapais, Langevin, Foley, and myself--but Mr Brown back again at Toronto flings all compromises and conciliations tothe Western winds. With him, too, as with the disappointed ex-Ministers, it is '* war to the knife." I attribute this change to his editing his paper in a shut-up room too much alone. (Laughter) It is a pity he could not bring his editorial desk into the House of Assembly and preserve in his articles the same tone he is obliged to observe in order to be heard 'in his speeches. [Hear, hear] What, for example, can be so unwise in a statesman-- so fatal to his success in working out great and difficult reforms, as to complicate the sectional question with the religious question. All re- ligions stand here on an equal footing ; all men have under our law the same liberty of worship ; why should a statesman endeavor to embattle creed against creed or church against church ? This has been the prime error of Mr Brown's latter course, and one which I had hoped some years ago he had abandoned. But I expected more than I ought, the odium theologicum once inhaled seems to leave an infatuated taste far more lingering in the system of him who has in- dulged init. I repeat, for my own part, my motto is--justice to Upper Oanada and to all Canada ; but with the alarm and agitation that has been created by Mr. Brown, I think we will all find it much easier ere long to frame a new act of union, embracing all British America-- God speed the day, I pray !--than to knock that stubborn 12th clause--the equality clause, out of Lord Sydenham's Union! [Cheers] And, | now, gentlemen, I come to the most important question of the three which I stated at the be- ginning, how is the country to be governed? Before answering that let. me give you two: or three specimen facts--for I must not detain you too long under this uncomfortable. weather--of how the country has been governed during th last ten months under Messrs Macdonald -- D rion. 1 shall not go far for my insiaace --I siall not quote cases which every one Cf yoa may not be able to verify. I shall c.nfine my selection to Montreal facts alone. Youall know that the chief cry of the late Government. was economy, and their chief, promise that tLey would bring the expenditure within the income; Our ueighbor, Mr Holton, was to be tle Hircules to cleanse the Augean stab.e of expendi ure ; but what did Hercules? 'For ten mouths he was binding his brooms and filling his buckets, .bat at last, near the end of the year, his heart. fiived him, and he gave up the task. [Cheers and laughter] _Why, Mr Gladstone, in 1853, four months after the fall of the Derby-D'I,raeli Government, re-modelled the whole taxation and expenditure of Great Britain, without half the blowing of trumpets which attended the idle movements of Mr Holton, But our neighbor, the ex-Finance Minister, did more. Last Sep- tember--in the second session of '63---when the year 'was nine months spent--when he must have known to a certainty what the expendi- ture of the year would be, he cooly underrated the civil service expenditure. by nearly $100,- 000 (92,000 and odd,) of which sum $6,000. was an underestimate in his own department of Guse coms and Excise. (Hear, hear) . After the year was three-fourths gone, this underestimate was made to throw an air of economy over the then Administration, but the Public Accounts of the year Were no sooner published than' we find this $92,000 figuring among " the unprovided items," Yet, in the face of these figures, His Exceilency had been made to congratulate us that the: ex. penditure last year had been within the. esti- mates, when the fact is the Finance Department, the Crown' Lands, the Post Oilice and the Public Works: had all overdrawn, more or less, their annual appropriations. |Hear, hear] To give you a few particilars as to the increases made, by these econcmical genilemen; you all kuuw the main facts aucudimg the remoyal from oilice oi Mr Sheriff Delisle, Mr Schiller, Mr. Brehaut, and Mr McGinn, the Jailer. You may not know, however, that in appointing the present Sheriif' {Mr Bouthillier] he was removed from an_ office of £850 a year,to one of £000; in fact that. the Sheriff who usually sells others out, was himself 'sold .out.' [Laughter], But he was promised, in order to obtain his consent to give up his former office to our old opponent, Mr Holmes--he was. promised an increase by, law | to £900, and the retrenchment and, ecougmy. government introduced a bill but failed to carry this promise, coupling the Sheriff of Quebec with the Sheriff' of Montreal in order to. disguise the true nature of the compact by which they had, as they thought, disposed of . two of the first, of- tices in this city. .[Hear, hear] Our predeces= sors made fierce war upon their predecessors for. appointing Mr Spence, who. was, however, at the time, in tLe civil service, to the collectorship of Toronto, contrary, to the letter of the Civil: Ser- vice Act, and, yet they appointed Mr Holmes and removed Mr Bouthillier, both changes being in direct contrayention of that act... What is.more in the filling up, of the vacancy caused by the death of the late worthy appraiser, Mr Beil,. the Finance Minister, in direct violation. of that act, added by his own mere motion £100 to the ap~ praiser's salary. Ido not blame Mr. Bryson,or Mr. Bouthillier for asking for more, than the law allows, but I do blame the retrenchment govern- ment for violating the law to increase salaries. The existing law, and the schedule of the Civil Service Act tix the salaries of the sheriff of Mon- treal and the appraiser of the port of Montreal, and yet in both cases; in the one it was agreed to ettect the increase by legislation, in the other it was actually done by a departmental order, in direct violation of law. Mr Holton willed the appointment, and Mr Holton's will was set.above the,law. | Hear, hear] I do not think, I must say, that the civil service act, in its present state, ought to be the law of the land, and when formerly in the Government I introduced a bill lo repeal certain stringent portions of it; but that bill was not adopted by our successors, and so long as the law is law, as long as it remains unrepealed, it ought, in my opinion, éven where it works a hardship to individuals, to be obeyed and respecied, (|Hear, hear} Then there was another local exploit of these Montreal reform- ers, the dismissal of the jailer, Mr McGinn, aman universally confided in by his fellow-citizens. {Cheers} -- Well, the whole of that history, too, will see the light by and bye. I believe it will iben be found that poor Mr McGinn's great fault was, that he hada good office, which was be- grudged to him. It fam not misinformed, that office was oifered in advance of Mr, McGinn's re-. moval to M, Bissonette, the head constable, with an iuevease of salary, also, in order to make room for M. Guillamme Lamothe, as head con-. stable. This transaction will, in good time, be duly explained, I have no doubt, and will atford another instance, at our own doors, of the fideli« ty of the economy government to its promises. The whole of the jail, custom-house and court- house dismissals, appointments and augmenta~ tions of salary, are subjects which every citizen of Montreal can judge and determine for him- self, they are no hearsay ; the actors are men you meet every day, and by their conduct in re- lation to these affairs, happening in our own city, they cannot object to be judged at your hands. [Cheers] I come now, without fur- ther digression, fo the main matter--how is the country to be governed in future ? [Hear, hear] In the first place, lutterly deny that the govern- ment formed on the last of March, is a resurrec- tion of what is commonly called " the old coal- ition." It contains, it is true, three members of the coalition--three very leading and active members--but it also contains many others, who were not of that connexion. Now, it is an in- sult to the five new men from Upper and the four from Lower Canada, who have entered this government, to set them down assomany cy- phers in the Cabinet. These nine will have each a vote at the Council table, and their colleagu will have no more ; they will be answerable not for acts done before May, 1862, when the old coalition ended--but for acts done or to be done, now and hereafter. [Cheers] As one of the new government, I reject with indignatin the electioneering slander, that we shall not all be found true to the policy we have promulgated, and whichI, for one, may well callmy own, since Mr Sandfield Macdonald and Mr Blair, my ex-colleagues, proclaim it to be identical with theirs. [Hear, hear] A custom has grown P| as you know, in this country--it is not, I ai free to admit, a strictly constitutional custom-- of sending down to Parliament, authorized ,ace surances of the intended policy of the new ad- ministration, as soon as it is formed.. Well, I have here in my pantie Macdonald-Sicotte policy of May, 1862, and the Tache-Macdonald policy of March, 1864, and though I do not find the double-majority, or re-adjustment of the Se ease SenenSSnnSneEenn ESSE